The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 409 The Sudden Strike

The area more than one mile wide between the captive army led by Zhang Jin and Lu Ruicai and the Longwei army has also become a purgatory on earth.

Geng Tianrui's soldiers, who had turned around and fled before, finally saw their own team, but what they saw was a burst of feathered arrows.After 500 people were shot down, shouts came from the front of Jianlu, "The commander-in-chief has an order, and those who retreat will be killed immediately!"

Lu Ruicai looked at the group of fallen soldiers, but he was very happy in his heart, and he couldn't help snorting coldly: "Geng, you also have today? This time you are very dead, let's see what you will do with me in the future Fight for success!"

Geng Tianrui's soldiers had nowhere to retreat, so they had no choice but to turn around and attack the Ming army's position. Without accident, they died faster than returning to Lu Ruicai's side.

For a while, thousands of Qing soldiers fled in panic between the two positions, and finally only a few hundred people were left kneeling in despair in the middle of the battlefield full of corpses, crying with their heads in their arms.

"Command, beat the drums..."

Just as Lu Rui said a few words, an officer under his command escorted a person forward, "General, Mr. Geng wants to see you."

Lu Rui took a closer look at the man, only to see that his body was covered in blood, his left hand had disappeared, revealing the white stubble, his face was blackened by gunpowder smoke, and he could vaguely recognize that it was indeed Geng Tianrui.

He was about to taunt a few words, when he heard Geng Tianrui say in a weak voice: "Brother Lu, listen to me, that Ming army is like a ghost, you must not go up there to die."

It turned out that he had planned to make a final fight with only 900 people just now, but he didn't expect that the Ming army burst into fire, and after only one volley, few of the people in his hands were still standing.He was also very lucky, only being hit in the arm, and escaped desperately under the protection of two guards.

Geng Tianrui briefly described the situation of the battle just now, and Lu Ruicai's face turned pale immediately, and was about to report to Ma Degong when he saw several Han army officers in blue armor with yellow flags coming forward.

The leader pointed at Geng Tianrui and yelled coldly: "Nonsense! You are afraid of the enemy and war, and you want to make false statements about the enemy's strength and disturb our army's morale?!" Then he swung the knife in his hand, and the latter's head rolled to the ground.

He shouted to the surroundings again: "The Commander-in-Chief has an order that anyone who does not retreat will be executed! Those who enter Shaoxing first will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

Afterwards, Zhang Jin and Lu Ruicai's 1 men and horses were put on the back waist by the yellow-flag infantry armor with knives and guns, and rushed towards the Ming army's defense line in fear.

These people hesitated for a short time after eating the first round of artillery from the Dragon Guards, but they were beheaded by the Eight Banners soldiers behind them, killing nearly a thousand people.

Only then did the rest believe that the Commander-in-Chief had indeed given the order to die, and knew that turning around would mean death. They were screaming madly at the moment, ignoring the heavy artillery fire from the opposite side, leaving thousands of corpses along the way, and they just spread their flesh and blood all the way to the dragon. Before the line of guards.

……

Zhu Linmei watched the captive army rushing up like zombies through the binoculars, but she felt a pity in her heart—these are all strong laborers!Whether it is sent to the shipyard, built a wharf or repaired water conservancy, it is extremely useful, but now Ma Degong will waste it outside Shaoxing City.

And Minnie shells are expensive too!Right now, the Dragon Guards are all equipped with rifled guns. He roughly calculated in his mind that if all these Jianlu were wiped out, the gun bullets alone would cost nearly ten thousand taels!
What a waste.He turned to Zhang Jiayu and asked, "Where is the navy now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a series of loud noises from the water surface on the west side of Jianhu Lake, which was nearly twice as loud as the movement on the artillery position of the Dragon Guards.

Tian Xiong was commanding his infantry with yellow flags back and forth to kill the Qing soldiers who did not charge forward.Seeing that the seven or eight thousand Green Battalion soldiers had advanced a hundred paces to the Ming Army's defense line, he was overjoyed. He planned to lead his troops to outflank the Ming Army's flanks only when the Green Battalion troops got entangled with the Ming Army.First destroy those nasty cannons, and then go straight into the enemy's formation from the side. With the elite infantry that I lead, I will be able to easily kill these southern soldiers.

He was already imagining how to unscrew the heads of these southern soldiers one by one. Suddenly, there was a violent shaking on the left side. Before he could react, an iron ball weighing eight catties flew past his chest. All kinds of internal organs that had been shattered shot out, and there was no connection between his head and his thighs.

Only then did he hear the sound of rumbling cannons coming from his flank, then the miserable cries of his bannermen, and then the deathly silence.

No matter how aggressive the Han army with the yellow flag inlaid, no matter how experienced they were in battle, they were in a panic at this time.Previously, the Ming army was all on the east side, how could there be half a figure on the left wing?Why are there cannons bombarding the head, and listening to the sound, there are at least 30 cannons!

Immediately, the flag soldiers in the back row who were supervising the battle began to be confused. Some shouted to defend against the enemy, some continued to urge the green battalion to move forward, and some turned their bows and guns to shoot in the direction of the sound of the cannon. Naturally, it was in vain.

The officers at the level of Chief Qian immediately looked in the direction of Tian Xiong's general flag, but saw that there was no order issued——Tian Xiong had already chatted with the bull head and horse face at this time, so how could he issue military orders?
Immediately, an officer reacted, and according to the regulations for taking over the command, he was going to take over the flag.At this moment, another round of bombardment hit from the water on the north side, and the left wing of the Xianghuang Banner, which was closest, couldn't hold on any longer and began to shrink back.

Although there were [-] Ma Degong's personal soldiers behind them supervising the battle, these people were also taken aback by the sudden shelling, and they were submerged by the rout of the left wing before they noticed.

"One compass point downstream." Murong Yi stood on the bow of the boat, pointing to the most densely populated area of ​​Jianlu's rear team, "First fire three volleys."

"Yes!" The helmsman immediately turned the rudder according to his order, and the Banchao then turned slightly about eleven degrees, and the three cannons on the port side were pointing directly at the point Murong Yi indicated.

Zhang Guoxuan had given the order to shoot freely, and the other ten warships on Jianhu Lake, like the Banchao, each selected the most suitable shooting target, and poured shells on the heads of the captives as quickly as possible.

These eleven warships were equipped with more than 60 four- to six-pound cannons. Although only the port side could exert firepower, it was comparable to an artillery battalion of the Dragon Guards.

This is the natural characteristic of warships, which are large in size and carry many guns.

This time it was only a small boat of about [-] tons. If it wasn't for the narrow entrance of Jianhu Lake and the lack of water depth, the Shaowu would not be able to get here, otherwise the cannons on it alone would be able to blast the Qing army to pieces.

Zhang Guoxuan put away the binoculars, and said to the adjutant beside him: "Raise the command flag, and the whole army should try to get as close to the shore as possible. Otherwise, the Jianlu in the south will not be able to reach it."

"Yes!" His adjutant reminded again, "My lord, will you be shot by Jianlu's guns?"

"It's okay, they're in a mess, and it's not that fast to regroup." Zhang Guoxuan warned again, "Just be careful not to run aground."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)